」申包胥曰：「子其勉之！
吾未可以助子，助子是伐宗廟也；止子是無以為友。
“There is nothing I can do to help you.
雖然，子亡之，我存之。
To help you would be the same as attacking the ancestral temple of my own state.
」於是乎觀楚一存一亡也。
後三年，吳師伐楚，昭王出走。
But stopping you would be inconsistent with friendship.
申包胥不受命，西見秦伯曰：「吳無道，兵強人眾，將征天下，始於楚。
So, in any case, you will seek to destroy Chu, and I will seek to preserve it.” And so people waited to see if Chu would be preserved or destroyed.
寡君出走，居雲夢。
使下臣告急。
Three years later the troops of Wu attacked Chu, and King Zhao64 fled the capital.
」哀公曰：「諾！
Shen Bao Xu went west on his own initiative and had an audience with the count of Qin, to whom he said, “Wu has abandoned the Way; its troops are strong and its people numerous.
固將圖之。
」申包胥不罷朝，立於秦廷，晝夜哭，七日七夜不絕聲。
They are about to conquer the entire realm, and they are beginning with Chu.
哀公曰：「有臣如此，可不救乎？
Our ruler has fled the capital and is now in Yunmeng.
」興師救楚。
吳人聞之，引兵而還。
I have come to inform you of this critical situation!” Lord Ai [of Qin] said, “Yes, I will assuredly attend to this at once.” Shen Bao Xu did not withdraw from [the Qin] court but stood in the public courtyard and wept without ceasing for seven days and seven nights.
昭王反復，欲封申包胥。
“Can one fail to rescue a state that has such an officer?” said Lord Ai.
申包胥辭曰：「救亡，非為名也。
功成受賜，是賣勇也。
He then raised troops and came to Chu’s rescue.
」辭不受。
When the men of Wu heard of Qin’s approach, they led their forces back to Wu, and King Zhao [of Chu] returned and was restored to the throne.
遂退隱，終身不見。
詩云：「凡民有喪，匍匐救之。」
He wanted to reward Shen Bao Xu with a fief, but Xu declined, saying, “To rescue a state from extinction is not a proper way to establish a reputation, and to accept a reward after achieving success is tantamount to boasting of one’s prowess.” With this, he refused the gift, went into retirement, and was never seen again. A passage in the Odes says, “Whenever the people suffer calamity, / Spare no effort to rescue them.”67 61 Zhao Dun: see 3.29, n. 56.